DOSSEYE, Chad, Nov 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Leila Ousmane and her 10-year-old daughter walk in disbelief atop the crumbling bricks that, until a few days earlier, formed the walls of their family home.

Heavy rains and floods in late September ravaged the Dosseye refugee camp where they live, toppling their house of mud bricks and wooden stumps into rubble.

"We went to live with my neighbour," said Ousmane. "But last night, the storm made their house collapse too."

Seven decades ago, the world was recovering from a devastating world war. For millions of child survivors of that war, peace still encompassed a landscape of significant challenges and damaged futures. UNICEF was created to help those children – no matter who they were, no matter where they were from. The only thing that mattered for the nascent organization was achieving results for children in need.

1. In his letter dated 25 January 2017, the President of the Security Council informed the Secretary-General that the Council had decided to send a mission to the Lake Chad Basin region (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria) from 1 to 7 March 2017. The mission was led jointly by the Permanent Representatives of France, Senegal and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The composition of the mission and its terms of reference are set out in annexes I and II to the present report.

Group of Seven leaders meeting in Taormina, Sicily, this week should take the lead in fighting famine and immediately fund nearly half ($2.9 billion) of the UN’s urgent appeal to avoid catastrophic hunger and more deaths, urged Oxfam today. Without an immediate and sweeping response, this crisis will spiral out of control.

The Belgian international development policy is undergoing a complete transformation. Under the impulse of the Sustainable Development Goals we opt in many different fields for a new approach and for international leadership. Innovation is the key word in this context.

The Security Council adopted its first resolution addressing Boko Haram’s presence in the Lake Chad Basin today, expressing concern about the protection needs of civilians affected by terrorism, including those resulting from sexual exploitation and abuse, extra-judicial killings and torture.

Members Hear Deputy Secretary-General’s First Address in Her New Capacity

Briefing on the heels of the Security Council’s recent visit to Africa’s Lake Chad Basin — beset by development challenges, looming famine and the brutal tactics of Boko Haram — the mission’s co-Chairs emphasized today the need for an enhanced and holistic response to the subregion’s largely neglected crisis.

While 2016 taught us to expect the unexpected, IRIN’s eyes and ears on the ground have given us an idea of what to look out for in the new year. We can’t promise everyone else will be covering these stories, but here are ten we’ll be watching:

As we at Lutheran World Relief anticipate the tremendous humanitarian challenges we might face in the coming year, a quote from Desmond Tutu comes to mind: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.”